Foldable door for wall openings



Jan. 21, 1969 s. GALIETTI FOLDABLE DOOR FOR WALL OPENINGS Sheet of 5 Filed March 14, 1967 S. GALIETTI FOLDABLE DOOR FOR WALL OPENINGS Janzl, 1969 Sheefl Filed March 14, 1967 Jan. 21, 1969 s. GALIETTI FOLDABLE DOOR FOR WALL OPENINGS of E iwf/UR SAMUEL GALIETTI Sheet v s d 1. M*

Filed March 14, 1967 www# FIGB

United States Patent O 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A foldable door including panels connected together by bendable plastic hinge strips so that the panels are foldable. Each panel includes a frame comprised of two rails connected together by a wall, and the rails have inwardly opening grooves receiving ornamental panels upon opposite sides of the wall, the ornamental panels being replaceable. The panels are carried movably on a track by a carriage including a pin for each panel assembly, the pin having at its upper end wings cooperating with stop lugs on a block receiving the pin for preventing folding of the panels in a direction opposite to the normal folding thereof.

This invention relates to a closure door having a plurality of hingedly connected panels that are foldable with respect to each other end that are supported upon trackways.

The device comprises extruded vertically arranged frames having channel bars to form individual panels that are hingedly connected together by plastic hinges that extend for the full height of the panels and with the channel bars of each of the panels being connected together by a relatively thin plate and with the plate and the bars forming vertical recesses into which is fitted ornamental panels and with the several panels being supported upon a track-way by rollers and whereby the panels when shifted upon each other and to accumulate at each end of a door opening in stacked relation.

The insertible panels may be of any decorative nature and may correspond to the decor of a particular room and may be replaced, if desired.

The invention further contemplates a supporting means for the panels that comprise a head block that carries a pair of rollers that traverse an extruded trackway for supporting the panels during their opening and closing movement and with the head block provided with a central opening for the rotatable support of a cylindrical pin that is shaped at its lower end to form a channel connecting means that has iitment over the connecting plate of the bars and with the head of the pin being provided with a pair of oppositely extending wings that have abutment with stop means formed upon the top of the block to limit the turning movement of the several panels upon their hinges.

Novel features of construction and operation of the device will be more apparent during the course f the following description, wherein has been illustrated a preferred form of the device and wherein like characters of reference are employed to denote like parts throughout the several figures.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a panel type closure embodying the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a section taken substantially on line 2 2 of FIGURE l,

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURES 4 is a top plan view of the closure device in the folded accumulated position,

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation fragmentarily of the closure device in the open position,

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of a pair of hingedly connected panels,

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a panel supporting means and,

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged perspective view of a pair of closure panels and illustrating primarily the interchangeable panels.

Referring specifically to the drawings, there has been shown a closure device, FIGURE l, illustrating the several panels by the numeral 5. -Each end panel 5 adjacent the closure opening is provided with a suitable control handle v6 through the medium of which the panel may be moved to an open or closed position with respect to a door opening 7.

Each of the panels 5 are extruded of suitable metal, plastic or the like and embodying rails 8 and with the rails 8 being recessed upon their inner sides, to form grooves 9, and the brace of the grooves 9 are connected to a wall 10` of the rails and with the wall 10 of each mating pair of bars 8 are connected together by a partition plate 11. The opposite side of the rails 8 are provided with T-shaped grooves 12, receiving flexible T-heads 13 of hinge plate 14. The heads 13 are frictionally engaged into the T-shaped grooves 12 and connect two adjacent panels together so that they may swing to and from each other in arcuate path.

Slidable within the grooves 8' formed by the connecting plate 11, are outer and inner plates 15 and 16. The plates 15 and 16 may be formed of any desirable material, such as wood, plastic, aluminum or any other suitable material and conform in shape or size to the plate 11 and the plates 15 and 16 may have their outer faces decorated in any desirable manner, either by paper or cloth covering, primarily to conform to the decoration of a room or rooms upon opposite sides of the door opening 7. The plates 11, 15 and 16 are provided with apertures 17 and 18, for receiving connecting screws 19 that may also be a bolt. The supporting means for the several panels embodies a rectangular block 20, having a central cylindrical opening 21, through which passes a cylindrical pin 22. The pin 22` projects above and below the block 20 at its upper end and is provided with a pair of oppositely extending wings 23 that have contacting engagement with stops 24 of the block and whereby to limit the turning movement of the pin and the panel supported thereby. The lower end of the pin 22 is provided with a preferably integral fork 25, that straddles the plate 11 and the panels 15 and 16 and also is apertured at 26 to receive the bolt 19. -Each opposite side of the block 20 is provided with trunnions 27, rotatably receiving rollers 28. The bolt 19 with the fork 25 obviously locks the plates 11, 15 and 16 together and the rollers 28, rotatably traverse channel trackways 2.9, that are `fixed into the upper end of the door opening 7. The trackways 29 are preferably extruded metal, such as aluminum and the rollers 28 traverse the bottom of the trackways.

With the several panels 5 connected to the carriage, formed by the blocks 20 and the rollers 28, the decorative panels 15 and 16 having been inserted into the grooves 8', they are connected together by the bolt 19 and the supporting carriage engaged with the trackways 29, supporting the panels 5 in suspended relation to the trackways and so that the panels may be shifted by the handle 6 to and from an overlying relation with respect to the door opening 7. As the panels are shifted along the trackways 29, they will be folded upon each other, such as that illustrated in FIGURE 4 and are prevented from rotating in an opposite direction by the wings 23, engaging the stops 24.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a very novel type of folding door has been provided. The several panels are connected together by the hinge elements 14, frictionally held within the T-shaped grooves 10. Hinge elements 14 are also extruded of ilexible plastic or the like so that the panels can bend with respect to each other. The structure of this invention provides a very novel decorative device that permit the substitution of the panels 15 and 16 in accordance with the particular decoration of adjacent rooms and the panels 15 and 16 may be covered or painted and when covered, corresponds to the decoration of the adjacent room. The device is simple in construction, is strong, durable, cheap to manufacture and forms a closure device of panels, as illustrated.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction shown, but that changes are contemplated as readily fall within the spirit of the invention as shall be determined by the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A folding paneled door that comprises a plurality of foldable panels having frames that are hingedly connected together by hinge strips formed of bendable plastic, the hinges having a T-head upon each edge that is slidable into T-shaped slots in the panels, the frame of each panel comprising vertical rails that are connected together by the hinge elements, the rails of each panel being connected together by a central integral wall section and 'with the rails being inwardly grooved upon each side of the wall section to slidably receive oppositely facing decorative panels, the wall section and the oppositely facing decorative panels being apertured adjacent their upper ends for the reception of a bolt, the apertures of the several sections being in alignment for the passage of the bolt, a carriage embodying a block and with the carriage having integral shafts at each side, the shafts being provided with rollers that traverse an extruded trackway above the panels and with the block having a central cylindrical opening receiving a cylindrical pin that extends above and below the block, the pin being forked at its lower end and with the fork being apertured and receiving a bolt, the fork being engaged over the several panels, the pin at its upper end being provided with oppositely extending wings that constitute stop means for the folding panels, the block having stop lugs formed upon its upper side to be engaged by the wings and to prevent folding of the panels in a direction opposite to the normal folding of the panels in a stacked relation at one side of the wall opening.

2. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the several panels are supported from the carriage and angularly stacked upon each other when the panels are moved to a closed position, the frame of each of the panels being grooved upon their mating edges to receive the bendable plastic hinges, the decorative panels being interchangeable and ornamented in any desirable manner to correspond to room decorations upon opposite sides of the wall opening, the decorative panels adapted to be removed to be substituted by any other selected decorative panels.

3. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the lower ends of each of the panels have bolted connection to a lower carriage that is movable within a fixed trackway at the lower end of the wall opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,544,823 7/1925 Pairhurst 160-206 1,612,443 12/1926 Johnson et al 160-206 1,612,498 l2/ 1926 Smith.

2,770,298 11/1956` Hiatt 160-199 X 3,251,400 5/1966A Krull 160-196 3,277,952 l1/l966- Tsuhako 160-199 3,287,759 11/1966 Foltz 160-199 X 3,349,829 10/1967 Dixon 160-199 X i DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

o D. L. TAYLOR, Assistant Examiner. 

